TMB's Hippotizer House of Worship Program Flourishes in North Carolina

Elevation Church's Blakeney Campus, in Charlotte, NC, recently completed a significant investment in the visual impact of their services. At the heart of their new video system are two Hippotizer HD media servers. TMB House of Worship (HOW) Program Partner Audio Ethics, of Charlotte, designed and performed the installation.

Blakeney Campus is using their Hippotizers to drive two large arrays of video monitors, one inside, and one outside the main sanctuary, plus a large LED display. Inside the sanctuary, seven 63” LCD monitors, in portrait orientation, and a low resolution LED curtain are positioned behind the pulpit. In addition, two banks of five 63” LCDs are situated outside in the welcome area. Both systems display a mixture of live video, text, and graphics, along with both custom and stock content.

To a greater degree, House of Worship facilities are incorporating video and media into their services, thereby enriching the overall experience for their congregations. To this end, Green Hippo and TMB now offer dedicated Hippotizer Worship machines, with a custom library of special HOW media content including over 50 religious themed clips and over 100 standard video and graphic files. Other functions designed specifically for the Worship market, such as a “Baby Number Feature,” are under development. The HOW machines also feature Hippotizer's new text engine, which allows the operator to scroll or page through unlimited amounts of text, overlaid or intermixed with any other images, backgrounds or effect, putting full control of hymn lyrics or religious text at the operator's fingertips. This complete control of text and imagery helps make each service relevant and enhances the worship experience for the congregation.

Says TMB HOW director Chris Curran, “The TMB Hippotizer HOW Program comprises a network of expert regional Hippotizer distributors authorized specifically for the House of Worship market. Limiting distribution to these strategic partners enables TMB to provide a strong chain of support from specification to sale and right through the integration process, giving the end client the full benefits and capabilities of Hippotizer's powerful graphical engine, live inputs, media management, special effects and multiple levels of control.”

“Hippotizer's superior graphical interface makes the creative use of these systems a pleasure,” says Trey Blair, Production Manager of TMB HOW Partner Audio Ethics. “The machines are proving themselves very reliable and TMB Tech Support has been great.” Charlotte-based Audio Ethics Production Services provides a full range of entertainment production and architectural installation services including audio-video, lighting, mobile staging, and design.